Telecomms giant BT Group to name Simon Lowth, who has previously worked for BG Group and AstraZeneca, as new finance chief tomorrow morning March 17, 2016 BT Group is set to name Simon Lowth as its new finance chief tomorrow morning. Lowth was previously finance chief at oil company BG Group before it merged with Royal Dutch Shell earlier this year and, prior to this, he was finance chief at pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Lowth also sits on the board of Standard Chartered and has [...]
£30bn in the pipeline: This is the year UK firms will cut pension schemes loose January 4, 2017 Britain's companies will shift sky-rocketing pension liabilities from their balance sheets this year, experts have predicted. With defined benefit pension schemes at record year-end levels, 2017 will be year to de-risk and UK plc is keen to take advantage of the improved affordability of shifting scheme risk to the insurance, according to Willis Towers Watson (WTW). Read more: As pension [...]
British Gas is blaming ultra high definition 4K TVs for adding £82m to energy bills by 2019 December 13, 2016 They may be turning into a must-have item, but energy inefficient 4K TVs are set to add £82m to UK consumers’ electricity bills by 2019, British Gas has warned. The ultra high definition (HD) TV sets have this year single-handedly caused the first rise in household energy bills from watching TV since 2011, preliminary findings [...]
UK pension funding deficits remain at nearly one-third of UK GDP, despite recovery of £50bn in November December 1, 2016 A £50bn improvement in the deficit of defined benefit pension funds in November 2016 failed to offset declines earlier in the year, leaving the total deficit at £580bn. The deficit is still over £100bn higher since the start of the year, according to PwC’s Skyval Index. Deficits have leapt since Spring after asset value growth failed to [...]
Ex-Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton targets sophisticated investors for new sports venture December 6, 2016 Sophisticated investors in the UK are being encouraged to back sport businesses using a new online platform that puts them in front of a range of unquoted companies in the sector. Sports Investment Partners (SIP), the private equity firm founded by former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton, has teamed up with corporate finance adviser Envestors to launch [...]
Three dials into conference call with Gamma for mobile service September 19, 2016 Mobile network challenger Three has teamed up with business telecoms provider Gamma for a business mobile service. The mobile-for-business market is currently dominated by O2, Vodafone and EE. Three and Gamma think they can win business by offering features like call recording, call queuing, and forward calling. The service will be launched at the end [...]
Sports and second screens: How stadium designers and broadcasters are dealing with the smartphone revolution October 5, 2016 Pep Guardiola isn't the only figure in elite sports for whom the prevalence of smartphone use has disrupted business as usual The Manchester City manager has cut off 3g and Wi-Fi connection from the club's training complex in order to pull his players' gaze away from screen and back onto the team. Yet for broadcasters, rights holders, club [...]
This is London First’s new chief executive October 3, 2016 London First has today announced former Save the Children International boss Jasmine Whitbread will be joining as its new chief executive. Whitbread, who has also held management positions at Thomson Financial and Rio Tinto and is a non-executive director of BT and Standard Chartered, will succeed Baroness Jo Valentine when she steps down at the end of the year. "Jasmine brings an [...]
Bletchley Park to house the UK’s next generation of cyber talent November 24, 2016 Renowned World War II codebreaking site Bletchley Park is going to play host to the next generation of the UK’s cyber experts. Under plans announced today the site is to be refurbished as country’s first National College of Cyber Security, with the first cohort of 16-19-year-olds expected from September 2018. The free-to-attend school will take on [...]
UK broadband battles: Ofcom consultation into BT pricing to close tomorrow December 13, 2015 Get ready for another round of the UK's broadband battles, as industry regulator Ofcom’s consultation into how much BT can charge its rivals for leasing its broadband lines closes tomorrow. After a month-long consultation, part of its Business Connectivity Market Review, Ofcom’s review into BT’s cost attribution methodologies closes tomorrow, leaving the watchdog with a [...]